The law and the protection of the rights of workers infected with hiv/aids on mainland Tanzania

Before the emergence of the HTV/AIDS epidemic in 1983, the institutional and legal framework for the protection of the rights of workers in Tanzania did not contemplate of a disease, which could pose a threat to the labour industry in Mainland Tanzania. The emergence of HTV/AIDS ushered in Tanzania in 1983 while the institutional and legal framework was not designed to contain the disease. It lagged behind while HIV/AIDS was paving its way in all fields of Tanzania society and, in particular, in the labour industry. Notably, the legal and institutional framework for the protection of the rights of workers infected with HIV/AIDS is inadequate to contain the challenges of HIV/AIDS in the labour industry. It has been characterized with inadequate provision of medical care and treatment, poor employment relations, discrimination and stigmatization, lack of sound Social security benefits and poor working conditions. Scholars from various disciplines have in turn seized the opportunity to investigate the problems of HIV/AIDS in the labour industry. This dissertation deals with the same problem. It seeks to discover and explain the failure to protect the rights of workers infected with HIV/AIDS from legal point of view. But in particular it attempts to present an institutional and legal framework and show its inadequacy to protect the rights of workers infected with HIV in Mainland Tanzania. The study is particularly useful in that it covers a range of labour legislation and international instruments and their application in the context of HIV/AIDS. It thus helps to provide a sound legal, institutional and policy framework for workplace actions against HIV/AIDS. The dissertation is divided into five chapters. Chapter One is an introductory part. Chapter two highlights the state of HIV/AIDS and the national response to HIV/AIDS epidemic on Mainland Tanzania. Chapter Three deals with the legal framework on protection of the rights of workers infected with HIV/AIDS on Mainland Tanzania. Chapter Four discusses the rights of workers infected with HIV/AIDS at the workplace and finally Chapter Five covers conclusion and recommendations.